Rapid Vitamin D Delivery May Result in Better COVID Outcomes

A container of vitamin D capsules in an undated fie photo. Mark Lennihan/AP Photo

Since the start of the pandemic, natural supplements have been a bone of contention with researchers, pharmaceutical companies, doctors and health experts. Newly published data again support past research that vitamin D has a significant impact on COVID-19.

Vitamin D was discovered in the early 1900s. Work by Sir Edward Mellanby from Great Britain and Elmer McCollum from the University of Wisconsin demonstrated that vitamin D could cure rickets. In the early 1970s, 25-OH-D3 was identified as scientists focused on the endocrine system, and the function that vitamin D has in the body.

Your body is capable of producing vitamin D with exposure to sunlight. In fact, with adequate exposure, your skin can produce enough vitamin D to support your health. Early research showed that too little vitamin D led to poor calcium homeostasis. In turn, this can lead to osteoporosis, osteomalacia and rickets.

Multiple studies have since demonstrated that a deficiency “is associated with increased risk and greater severity of infection, particularly of the respiratory tract.” While nearly every study finds a relationship between vitamin D and upper respiratory infections, not all find that vitamin D has the same impact on the infections.

One factor that may influence the varied results is how the researchers measure the intervention and data. In other words, are they measuring the amount of supplementation being given or are they looking at the vitamin D blood levels demonstrating deficiency against the impact on infection?⁷

Study Shows Vitamin D Shortens COVID and Decreases Mortality

A study published in November 2021 sought to identify if vitamin D may play a role in the treatment of COVID-19. The researchers noted that patients admitted to the intensive care unit had high plasma levels of biomarkers indicating inflammation. They wrote:

“Given the natural three-stage clinical course of the disease, inadequate innate immune response in the first stage and immune-mediated damage due to dysregulated immune response in the second stage are considered to be the major determinants of poor outcomes.”

Should a supplement or drug be able to support the immune response in the first or second stage, it may help reduce the severity and mortality of the illness. The researchers first gathered retrospective data from 867 patients at the Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa Faculty Hospital.

The patients had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 but were excluded from the cohort if they had comorbidities associated with vitamin D deficiency, such as cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease or autoimmune diseases. Each of the patients received an antiviral and some received anti-cytokine treatment. Clinical outcomes were measured against serum vitamin D status.

In the retrospective arm of the study, the researchers split the participants into four groups determined by their serum 25OHD level. The data from this arm revealed that the risk of hospitalization longer than eight days was 1.9 times higher in patients in three of the groups.

The second part was designed as a prospective study involving 210 people with confirmed COVID-19. The researchers included 23 healthy individuals. In this group there were 163 participants with serum 25OHD levels less than 30 ng/mL. These individuals received vitamin D3 treatment according to the protocol that was created by reviewing evidence from past literature.

The researchers administered vitamin D3 based on whether patients were an inpatient or in the ICU and which group they were in. The total time the vitamin D was administered ranged from 14 days for inpatients to three days for ICU patients.

Researchers measured peripheral blood samples in all their patients on Days 1 through 3 before treatment and on Day 7 and Day 14 in those who received treatment. Participants in the prospective group were also treated according to the current national guidelines, which at the time did not recommend vitamin D supplementation.

The treatment protocol increased the serum 25OHD level significantly above 30 ng/mL within two weeks in those receiving the intervention. They found that vitamin D treatment shortened the length of hospitalization in those with COVID-19, even when there were comorbidities present. They concluded:¹⁰

“Having vitamin D treatment decreased the mortality rate by 2.14 times. It has been determined that vitamin D supplementation is effective on various targeted parameters; therefore, it is an important parameter for the course of COVID-19, and serum vitamin D levels and correlation analyses between these parameters confirm this inference.”

Top Signs You May Have a Vitamin D Deficiency

The only way to definitively identify a vitamin D deficiency is through blood testing. However, there are some general signs and symptoms that may indicate you should get your vitamin D tested sooner rather than later.

• Ongoing musculoskeletal pain or achy bones
• Frequent illnesses or infections
• Neurological symptoms, including depression
• Fatigue and daytime sleepiness
• Head sweating

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways of measuring your vitamin D level is to participate in GrassrootsHealth’s D*Action, which is a vitamin D intervention population program. The test is done in the convenience of your home and the results are sent directly to you.